Saturday, March 03, 2007

Horse and Buggy Country

Mennonite transportation





It's still interesting, even after 15 years here, to live in a neighborhood with a large number of Mennonite families.

In fact, our two nearest neighbors are Mennonite families. One family shares our lane -- they live about 1/4 mile from us. Our other Mennonite neighbors bought the farmland that originally went with our house. They live nearer to us, but we don't share a road so we don't see them quite as often.

The Mennonites around Hopkinsville often hire a car if they are going to town, and it has become a small industry around here to "haul Mennonites", as people say. It seems to be a good part-time job for retired people. Dennis has been doing some driving for our two neighbors. This brings in about enough money to keep gas in the cars.

I saw the horse and buggy in the photo above at a little Mennonite store near Fairview, KY -- the Pennysaver Market. Here's a bit of wisdom that is posted near their cash register: "The best way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your wallet."

This buggy is not too spiffy. It looks like it has seen some hard use. Our Mennonite neighbor boy who is Keely's age (21) has a really good-looking new buggy with a fancy polished wooden console inside it.

This young man has been dating a girl from the local Mennonite church for several years. Not long ago, his dad mentioned buying a little piece of land nearby and said that a house would be built there soon. We didn't ask any questions, but we are guessing that there will be a wedding after the house is built.

One final thing about buggies -- I believe that the Mennonites would call the vehicle in the photo a "carriage", not a buggy, but we English (non-Mennonite) people carelessly call them all "buggies".

Bar

Related posts:
Seen at Lowes
View Across the Field


One year ago today, I posted an old-time story about crossing the creek that our neighbor lady told me.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

neat photo!

Any idea how large the Mennonite community is around you? Any Amish as well?

Erik

Genevieve Netz said...

Erik,

Thank you for your comment and question. I sat down to answer it, and before long, my answer grew into an essay. I decided I should post it separately! Please see the post, "Mennonites and Amish in Chrisian County, Kentucky."

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

CONTENTMENT: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry, live simply, expect little, give much, sing often, pray always, forget self, think of others and their feelings, fill your heart with love, scatter sunshine. These are the tried links in the golden chain of contentment.
(Author unknown)

IT IS STILL BEST to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasure; and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.
(Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957)

Thanks for reading.